Loreauville too much for Erath

ERATH – Erath’s Lynkon Romero to David Richard pass-catch scoring combination clicked twice Friday night in the Bobcats’ regular-season opener against Loreauville.
It wasn’t enough to offset the Tigers’ twin brothers – seniors Caleb Jacob and Collin Jacob – and a supporting cast of returning players coming off a reasonably deep postseason run a year ago in Class AA. Loreauville scored on its first three possessions in the first quarter and never looked back on the way to a 41-15 victory over the ’Cats.
Romero, a sophomore, connected with Richard, a senior, in the second and fourth quarters on touchdown passes of 22 and 39 yards, respectively, for a bright spot for Bobcat fans and head coach Eric LeBlanc. Romero finished 11 for 16 for 165 yards and two TDs.
“He’s got the tools to be a good one. Unfortunately, I think he had a couple of mistakes, some young quarterback mistakes,” LeBlanc said.
Romero was intercepted once on the first play of the second half with the Bobcats at the EHS 35. The Tigers capitalized on the host’s third turnover and marched 38 yards in five plays to score on a 3-yard burst over left guard by Ethan Simon to make it 41-8, Loreauville.
LeBlanc lamented turnovers and 105 yards in penalties assessed the Bobcats, who were flagged for seven holding penalties, four in the second half. The flags were the result of undisciplined play, he said.
The holds can be attributed to coming off the ball on the first step, as well as ballcarriers, hitting the wrong holes.
Nevertheless, LeBlanc said, “I see some promise. Our job as a (coaching) staff is to get the guys right and ready for Week II.”
Caleb Jacob, the Tigers’ signal-caller, led all rushers with 153 yards on eight carries. He had long runs of 43 and 47 yards in the first quarter when he scored on the 43-yarder at 9:29 and on a 6-yard sprint at the 5:53 mark. The senior’s 61-yard gallop highlighted the second scoring drive from the LHS 25 to the EHS 14.
The dynamic quarterback also completed 4 of 9 passes for 96 yards and one TD, a 29-yarder to his brother that upped the visitor’s lead to 28-8 at 4:49 in the second quarter.
“I think 5 (Caleb Jacob) is a helluva player and they had a helluva game plan. That’s a good team. They’re two helluva players,” LeBlanc said about the Jacob twins.
He wishes his team would have played more disciplined on each side of the ball.
“We played undisciplined tonight, just going from first steps to reads and (linebacker and/or safety) fits,” he said. “They beat us in the run game, and we try to take pride in stopped the run defensively. Stop the run and you can do a lot of things.”
Loreauville’s other touchdowns came on a 4-yard run by Ethan Simon in the second quarter and Collin Jacob’s fumble recovery in the end zone after a 9-yard completion from his brother to Ethan Simon with 3:41 left in the first half. That score increased the Tigers’ lead to 34-8.
Erath, whose leading grounder was Landon Toups with 41 yards, returns to action next week at DeQuincy.